Chapter 393: Eating Grandpa's Shot

Even if some things had never been seen, they were at least somewhat known by reputation. Everyone was astonished and moved upon hearing the name of the flame. It seemed to be something legendary, capable of astounding even gods and ghosts. Legend had it that the reason the yin and yang realms were so difficult to cross was because, in ancient times, an ancient deity had used the 'Samadhi True Fire' to forge an artifact that separated yin and yang.

It was called a 'settling object' rather than a magical artifact because it had surpassed the scope of what was considered a magical artifact.

Let alone others, even Tong Mingshan, who had recovered from his initial shock, was excited as he looked at the black and white flames in his palms. He could hardly believe he had obtained such an opportunity.

Wu Jinliang, with his thick eyebrows and bright, large eyes, blinked and fluttered them, constantly glancing between Tong Mingshan and the flames in his hands.

The others were fine, but the two who cultivated fire-attribute techniques grew increasingly excited. The reason was easy to imagine: divine flames were continuously being supplied. If Tong Mingshan could achieve this, it meant they also had a high chance of succeeding.

Zhu Xiangxin asked impatiently, "Sect Leader, may I ask how you fused those divine flames?" Perhaps influenced by Wu Jinliang, she would call him 'Sect Leader' when necessary. She hadn't used that title much before, considering they were all just unfortunate souls who had been imprisoned together.

Wu Jinliang, hearing this, hesitated to speak. He didn't really want Tong Mingshan to easily reveal the profound secrets and had wanted to interrupt, but seeing Zhu and An's reactions, he held back the words on his tongue.

Tong Mingshan thought for a moment, then slowly explained, "I can't quite explain it clearly. After absorbing various divine flames to a certain quantity, I realized that absorbing more divine flames isn't necessarily better. I felt that when the quantity increased, they became quite chaotic and turbulent within my body. It subtly gave me the feeling that I might lose control if I wasn't careful. I had some underlying worries, fearing it would become a curse rather than a blessing over time.

"Afterwards, I observed the movement of the stars; even with such complexity, they moved orderly. So, I thought about making them operate in a similar way, to see if I could find an orderly method of circulation for them. During my seclusion, I repeatedly tried to circulate those divine flames in various ways. Later, I surprisingly discovered that some divine flames could harmonize with each other. So, I gradually tried to separate them, and after arranging them into three groups, they quieted down. But I couldn't keep controlling them endlessly, so I had the idea to try fusing them. I didn't expect it to actually work."

After speaking, he looked at the two and said, "The result is what you see now."

So, it was an effect that occurred after the quantity reached a certain scale. Zhu and An both looked enlightened, and at the same time, their eyes showed anticipation. They both successively looked towards Wu Jinliang.

Wu Jinliang, stroking his chin, also seemed thoughtful, muttering to himself, "'Samadhi' is still missing one essence. According to this, we'll need to gather ten more types of divine flames to truly refine the 'Samadhi True Fire'."

The subsequent situation was easy to imagine. When Xu and You sent more divine flames, Wu Jinliang urged them not to always catch similar divine flames, but to catch different ones. Fearing the two wouldn't put in enough effort, Wu Jinliang specifically went to Shi Chun and informed him of the situation.

Upon hearing that the outrageous 'Samadhi True Fire' had actually been produced, Shi Chun was astounded. He immediately started urging Xu and You as well. The two also complained, feeling they had truly done their best, saying they only caught those types repeatedly. They even asked if those nine 'masters' might be new varieties, and if they should try to capture them directly.

Regarding the nine 'masters' in the pagoda, Shi Chun had only seen two of them. He didn't even know what the other seven looked like. However, Xu Anchang's words reminded him that those nine might indeed be new varieties. Even so, there were only nine, still one short of ten. He instinctively thought of Zhen'er.

However, he wasn't in a hurry to disturb those nine, because they were integrated with the Earth Core Pagoda and couldn't escape. He could deal with them later. If he moved on those nine now, he might scare away the other divine flames. Since there was this opportunity now, he didn't mind letting An Wuzhi and Zhu Xiangxin also absorb plenty of divine flames. Was it better to have one person refine the Samadhi True Fire, or three? Did that even need a choice?

Meanwhile, beneath the frozen, dark lake, the dazzling, colorful lights that used to flicker within the pagoda's windows and doors had gradually dimmed and faded. The reason was clear to those inside the pagoda.

"Boss, how much longer must we endure?" a voice echoed from the bottom of the pagoda. "If this continues, they'll slaughter all the little flames."

A sighing voice said, "We understand we shouldn't alert the enemy, but they've become so brazen, and the little flames can't take it anymore. Surely, a slight retreat wouldn't count as alerting them?"

A woman's voice chimed in, "Exactly. If we just take it without moving, I'd find that strange, and it might even alert them."

The old man, who was sitting cross-legged, slowly opened his eyes. His gaze was deep.

A murmuring voice spoke, "We've endured so much. They should be at ease by now, right? Why haven't they made a move to break the array?"

Old Ninth's voice rang out, "They probably want to absorb more divine flames. If we withdraw the little flames, they should make their move, right?"

"That's right."

"We can try."

Voices of agreement rose one after another.

Unexpectedly, Old Ninth suddenly let out a surprised "Hmm?" His distinctly puzzled voice caused everyone to fall silent.

The woman's voice asked, "What's wrong?"

Old Ninth said, "The familiar energy signature I locked onto has appeared again. There's really someone not afraid of death. The guy I taught a lesson to some time ago has actually come back. It looks like he's heading this way again. What should we do?"

The old man said, "Is he still relentlessly pursuing Shi Chun?"

Old Ninth replied, "Shi Chun is no match for him. If he comes, he'll definitely scare Shi Chun away. It's already this late; the exit of the Divine Flame Domain is not far from opening. If we step in to teach him a lesson, that guy is a bit strange. If we use too little force, we can't kill him, but if we make too much of a commotion, we might alert and scare away Shi Chun and the others. What should we do?"

The old man said decisively, "Teach him a small lesson, let him know there's danger in approaching, and just scare him away."

So, Li Hongjiu suffered again.

Li Hongjiu, who had been hiding and recuperating and was about seventy to eighty percent recovered, couldn't wait for full recovery and returned. This was because time was running out; if he waited for his injuries to fully heal, this session of the Divine Flame Alliance would be over.

He quietly made his way to the lakeside again, not the same spot where the incident occurred last time. Looking at the frozen lake surface, he hesitated for a moment, but ultimately, he flashed into the air and darted across. Unexpectedly, just as he reached mid-air, the familiar crack radiating blue light appeared.

Li Hongjiu instantly blanched. Having experienced it before, he knew what this meant. But he had nowhere to evade, and he knew that with his strength, he couldn't possibly dodge an attack from such a master. Sure enough, as the light enveloped him, he saw the moving hand silhouette within the crack again.

*Boom!* Then he flew out like a cannonball, crashing onto the side of a mountain.

He was sent flying again, but the commotion was far less than last time.

"Hmm, much weaker than last time. Oh, his injuries aren't healed yet."

Old Ninth's gleeful voice had just echoed from the bottom of the pagoda, when the old man, who had been listening intently with closed eyes, suddenly shouted urgently, "Stop!"

Old Ninth exclaimed, "Oh, I didn't pay attention to him."

Then silence fell inside the pagoda. Everyone seemed to have noticed something. Nothing else had happened. Wu Jinliang, who was returning with Chu Jingtang after meeting with Shi Chun, suddenly appeared, flying towards the source of the commotion.

While en route, they suddenly heard a commotion, and it seemed a light had flashed. The two immediately used their Wind Scale Arc Transformation technique and went, wanting to see what was happening. The distance was actually quite far, but compared to the speed of the Wind Scales, it wasn't too far. The two arrived quickly.

Seeing the place where smoke and dust filled the air, the two hovered at a low altitude for a moment. Unable to see clearly within the dust, they landed to investigate. Wu Jinliang was very cautious, and he summoned his three divine demon avatars for vigilance.

Some rustling sounds came from within the dust. One of the divine demon avatars immediately swung its blade, clearing away the pervasive smoke and dust. They saw a disheveled person swaying as they stood up.

With disheveled hair and covered in dust, it was unclear who it was. Wu Jinliang directly flicked out a piece of sandalwood gold, illuminating the person's face. He immediately widened his eyes, clearly startled. He had actually run into that plague god! Chu Jingtang, standing beside him, was also terrified, almost screaming.

Li Hongjiu waved his hand and grabbed the sandalwood gold that had shot before his eyes. He stared coldly at the two, slowly drawing his sword with his other hand.

"Run!" Wu Jinliang shrieked, controlling his magical artifact to grab Chu Jingtang and turn to flee.

However, just as he reached mid-air, he let out another "Hmm?", as if he had just realized something.

Seeing them flee, Li Hongjiu's shoulders slumped as he sighed in relief. He felt the blood he had swallowed rising in his throat again. Just as he suppressed it, he was suddenly startled again. He saw a divine demon avatar descending from the sky, furiously thrusting a spear. Wu Jinliang's voice followed, "Take a spear from your granddaddy!"

Li Hongjiu immediately swung his sword to block.

Wu Jinliang, shrieking in the air, seemed fierce, but was actually nervous, ready to turn around and flee again if anything seemed amiss. If he hadn't been chased by this person before and known that the person couldn't easily catch him, he really might not have dared to make such a sudden counter-attack.

There was no helping it; Li Hongjiu's pathetic state was too obvious. He had been swaying unsteadily just moments ago. Although he didn't know what had happened, Wu Jinliang felt that if he didn't try to stab him once, he'd be letting himself down.

*Boom!* Dust erupted from the ground, and Li Hongjiu's figure was sent flying sideways out of the dust again.

Gone was the unmoving steadfastness he displayed when fighting their magical artifacts earlier. He was simply no match. Wu Jinliang's eyes immediately lit up, and another divine demon avatar beside him instantly wielded its blade and pursued. If he didn't seize this opportunity to finish him off while he was weakened, then he would have wasted all these years of his life.

Li Hongjiu, who had crashed to the ground, rolled and knelt. Just as he was about to prop himself up with his sword, he was pressed down onto the ground by an incoming powerful suppressive force, watching helplessly as a sharp blade light descended upon his head.

At this moment, a bitter smile appeared on his face. He knew that given his current physical state, he couldn't dodge, so he simply stopped trying to evade. He just hadn't expected such a fate for himself. Dying at the hands of this big guy, he indeed felt somewhat unwilling. To be killed by such a nobody... He felt it would be more acceptable if it were Shi Chun. To die at the hands of Shi Chun's subordinate—he found it ironically amusing.

The sword in his hand slipped away. The light of the sandalwood gold flame qi, released from his other hand, was swept away by the strong wind.